How should we act toward our relatives that gossip all the time? Is it appropriate to break off relationships with them?

There are a lot of gossipers among our relatives. How should we act toward them? Is it permissible not to allow them into our homes? Will it be a sin to do so? Is it appropriate to break off relationships with them completely?

Dear Brother / Sister,

It is not appropriate to break off relationships with relatives. It is necessary to prevent those people from gossiping by telling them that what they do is wrong by using a suitable language. If they insist on gossiping, you can read from a religious book without giving them any opportunity to speak; thus, they will either listen to what is read or go away.  

Our duty should be to cure their spiritual diseases like that.

The duty of a doctor is to become the enemy of the disease, not the patent. Similarly, we should hate the disease of gossiping in them, not those people.

The spiritual diseases that our relatives have should not prevent us from loving them and from being together with them. We take more care of a relative who has cancer; similarly, instead of breaking off relationships with them, we should increase our care of and interest in them in a way to cure their spiritual diseases.

Questions on Islam